Saturday, we took out the Fat Boy Cape Ann, wrapped in stretch wrap. The wrap that I used cost me $15 for 1500lf. My kids and I wrapped the thing three times in about 10 minutes and took it to a local pond for the test. We were the only ones at the pond and the weather was as calm as can be.

My first impression was that this boat feels very short compared to my Chesapeake, but had great stability. It wasn't as slow as I had imagined it would be, a forward stroke actually propelled the boat forward. And it was very maneuverable (sounds better than the tracking sucked). Some other things that I noticed was that the trim was off a bit. It felt to me that I needed to move my butt back several inches. I also realized that it would probably hold another 50 to 100lbs easily. Since there's a permanent form for my backrest, I think I'll just add some weight behind the seat. Any other options?

Currently this 13ft boat weighs 20lbs with the saran. I have decided that I really like this kayak and will proceed with Dyson's 8oz nylon on the hull, heat'n bond tape and monel staples to the top deck stringer (about 3" in from sheer), then possibly build the deck solid out of luan or strips. I would like to keep the weight below 30lbs if I can, but it's not necessary.

Overall impression: Fun little fishing boat, easy to build, cheap materials, light weight, easy to transport. This is one kayak that anyone can build, and the bonus is that you can use any strip designs for the forms or temporary forms for S&G boats. Now I wish I would have used good plywood for my Cirrus forms (not MDF).

What do you think?
SMF